Thursday, December 16, 2010

Christmas Music for 2010: Coldplay, Annie Lennox, and the Puppini Sisters

It's another good year for new Christmas music!! Is it just me or are more and more artists putting out holiday songs and albums?

Coldplay's "Christmas Lights" is an instant classic. The line "I took my feet // to Oxford Street" may be my single favorite line of the year, between the simplicity, the way that Chris Martin sings it, and the memories it brings back of my time in London. I love the piano in "Lights," and the rhythm-switch in the middle of the song is great.

Annie Lennox's album Christmas Cornucopia is solid throughout; she has a voice that is a mesmerizing combination of happy and melancholy. My favorite song on Cornucopia is "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem."

I think "Oh Little Town" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" are the two Christmas carols that most lend themselves to great re-interpretations by various artists.

489. How old a song is "Oh Little Town"? Was it written by a Brit?

490. Are more musicians actually producing Christmas records these days, or am I just more aware of them because of the accessibility through iTunes?

491.Mark Zuckerberg was announced as Time's Person of the Year yesterday. How many votes did Julian Assange get? I think Assange was actually the correct choice (in terms of global influence for 2010 in particular), but Zuckerberg is a defensible pick.

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Another fun new song is the Puppini Sisters' "Last Christmas." Their jazzy voices are quite fun, and the strange instrument at the beginning (is that a ukelele?) is a nice change-up from the standard strings and piano.